There are many Jews around the world that do not live in Israel, but for those of us who don’t, we always hold out hope that the countries we do live in will be ones that support Israel.
Jewish people in Canada were very fortunate with former leader Stephen Harper who was probably Israel’s greatest ally during his administration.
And in Australia, we have been fortunate too, that most of the leaders have been ones that are very supportive of the State of Israel. It’s true that it can change – and often it does as changing leaders is a cyclical process – unless you’re Mahmoud Abbas, or one of the Arab countries, who dispense with annoying little distractions like democratic elections.
But in the last couple of days, the Foreign Minister of Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif, met with his Australian counterpart here in Australia. This came just a few days after Iran tested two ballistic missiles with the words “Israel must be wiped out” written in Hebrew and Persian. As anyone who has followed Iran’s rhetoric over the last few years knows, this message of death to Israel comes as no surprise. Of course – it didn’t bother the United States who still signed a deal with Iran.
Now, many Jews were upset at this meeting – as we tend to get that way when leaders of a regime that has threatened to wipe our homeland off the face of the map come visiting. And as a means to address that, the Australian foreign minister told a Jewish Australian newspaper that the visit does not mean that Australia accepts Iran’s world view. Israel is entitled to be deeply concerned, she reiterated. But rather, the visit should be seen as one in which an “opportunity to raise issues of deep concern,” including Iran’s death penalty and the rhetoric towards Israel was raised.
The Iranian foreign minister maintained Iran’s missile are for self-defense, but then accused Israel of looking to cause an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe by wanting to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities which would release radioactive material into the air that would kill millions – kind of like what they threaten to do to Israel.
Mohammad Javad Zarif also met with a Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, which included a Jewish MP, Michael Danby. Danby asked him if Iran would recognize a two-state solution if one was agreed to by Israel and the Palestinians. And according to Danby, the response was that peace was unlikely because “the Zionists have showed themselves incapable of negotiations with the Palestinians”.
So despite the engagement by Australian, no minds were changed or even opened up on the Iranian side – and if they did say something positive, we can be sure that it would only be for diplomatic purposes.
What is important to remember is that countries like Iran are governed by a fanaticism that people in the West can’t really grasp properly. They don’t care what Australia says or the United Nations or the United States. And they also don’t care about nuclear agreements that John Kerry may hold up as a triumph while the rest of us view it more as a tragedy.
I don’t know if Australia did the right thing in meeting with Iran. While I do see a certain value in making your points and concerns known directly, I also don’t see it as achieving anything, other than giving the Iranian regime some kind of sense of respectability and normalcy.
I do know, however, that Australia is one of the more supportive countries towards Israel these days – and that’s something that I, as someone who lives here, do appreciate.
